


3,941

by crunchie_morris



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, and trans jack ofc, cheesy javid mod au, ft mutual friend race, i have no clue where this is going so suggestions are welcome, they were besties but drifted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 21:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12969252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crunchie_morris/pseuds/crunchie_morris
Summary: "Out of 3,941 David Jacobs’ in America, this one was Jack's, without a doubt."





	3,941

Jack stared at the notification for far longer than he should have. 

> **_david.jacobs_ ** _ liked your photo _

David Jacobs. 

Sure, David Jacobs was a common enough name. It could have been any David Jacobs. (In fact, he looked it up - they were 1 of at least 3,941 in the country, according to the first Google result.) But, it couldn't have been any coincidence. 

The photo that this  **_david.jacobs_ ** liked was of Jack, circa 7th grade, complete with awful,shoulder-length shaggy hair that he'd cut himself, with his arm swung around his best friend at the time, Davey Jacobs. 

> **_jackyboyyyy_ ** _ happy bday to the best friend ever!!! (Even tho he doesnt have ig lolol I keep telling him to get one :P) _

Despite the slight cringe his caption gave him, he kept re-reading it and staring at the photo.

_ November 8th, 2012 _

It had been  _ that _ long. Jack shook his head. He suddenly felt his face heat up at the realization that it must have taken a while for Davey to find that photo.

His phone dinged suddenly, taking him out of his thoughtful daze. 

> **_david.jacobs_** _started following you_

Jack wanted to stare at that notification for as long as he'd stared at the first one, but instead, he clicked on the username.

> **_david.jacobs_ **
> 
> **David Jacobs**
> 
> _ Carpe Diem.  _

Out of 3,941 David Jacobs’ in America, this one was Jack's, without a doubt. 

Jack began scrolling through the profile. He zoomed past aesthetic images of books and city skylines and candids of his siblings and  _ oh my gosh is that Les? He's so big! _

Finally, he found a picture of a boy - no, a man now - a man, with hair so brown it was almost black, covering cheeks that had lost the childish roundness Jack had always remembered them with. He was laughing, a sound Jack could barely hear in the back of his mind. 

> **_david.jacobs_ ** _ Sarah finally got a candid picture of me, for once. She said if I didn't post it, she would. Happy now  _ **_@sarah.luna_ ** _? _

Jack spent what was probably the next hour scrolling through the whole profile, grinning when he saw something especially Davey-esque. That being said, he'd definitely changed. He’d grown. Even when Jack reached the first post, he didn't see the Davey he remembered. 

Once he reached the bottom, he scrolled back up. His hand hovered over the message button. What would he say after all these years? 

The last time Jack Kelly had seen David Jacobs, he'd given him the tightest, most bone-crushing hug he could muster, with a whispered promise to stay in touch. 

_ Look how well that worked out for you, Kelly,  _ Jack silently berated himself. It wasn't his fault, though; things just got...overwhelming. 

He couldn't message him now. Out of the blue. After all these years?

> **_jackyboyyyy_ ** _ hey long time no see? _
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

What the actual hell had David Jacobs just done?

He really, truly hadn't meant to find them. He was just scrolling through Instagram, as you do when you need to procrastinate, when paused to like a photo that caught his eye. 

> **_r.a.c.e._ ** _ bowling night w/ this loser (bc I won) _

The aforementioned “loser” in the photo looked...incredibly familiar. The person had their arm around Race, grinning the crooked grin Davey had never forgotten. The thing that really struck him, though, was the hair. Looking at the haircut made the image of him, sitting in his bedroom as his best friend stood before the mirror, holding their hair up in bunches on their head. “This would look best, right?” They'd asked. “Ms. Gina says my hair is pretty long but...I dunno, Dave. Something about this makes me feel...more me.”

David blinked, trying to leave the memory and return to the present day. He tapped on the photo, hoping beyond hoping that the “loser” would be tagged. 

And they were. 

But not with the name David remembered them with. 

> **_jackyboyyyy_ **

Jack. 

So, it wasn't them. 

David sighed. That would be too good to be true, wouldn't it? 

But, the longer he looked at the picture, the more he recognized this “Jack.”

Could it be?

David clicked on the tag, leading him to a profile that read:

> **_jackyboyyyy_ **
> 
> **Jack Kelly**
> 
> _ “I wanna be a cowboy baby” -- that one vine, you know the one. [he/him] _

Kelly.  _ Kelly.  _

David’s heart sped up. It made sense. It made perfect sense. 

He began scrolling through Jack’s profile like a madman, wildly searching for a photo that could prove that this was the person he thought it was, the person he'd missed for five years. A baby photo, a “#throwbackthursday,” something he could remember for sure. 

As he scrolled down, the more and more familiar Jack became. Years passed with every few scrolls, until eventually...yes. It was definitely him. 

But, if he'd had any traces of doubt left, they vanished as soon as he saw the third-to-last-photo. 

Jack, looking to be about twelve, smiled at the camera with a braces-covered, crooked grin. His arm was around none other than David. 

> **_jackyboyyyy_ ** _ happy bday to the best friend ever!!! (Even tho he doesnt have ig lolol I keep telling him to get one :P) _

David could hear his best friend’s voice in the back of his mind, telling him to get an Instagram. “We're almost in eighth grade, which is basically high school, so you gotta have one.”

Now, if he ever told this story to anyone else, David would promise, cross his heart, even swear, that his hand slipped. 

No matter how conscious it was, after one embarrassing second, the third-to-last photo on Jack Kelly’s Instagram gained another like.

**Author's Note:**

> Me??? Writing something that isn't JackCrutchie??? Shocker, I know.   
> As Right By Your Side comes to a close, I wanted to write a fun, fluffy multi-chap. (Plus, RBYS is honestly pretty emotionally taxing sometimes, and the last few chapters are no exception, so I need something happy to write.) This won't be as long as Kelly, J or RBYS, I think. I honestly don't know where I'm going with this? Please give ideas?? I hope you enjoy whatever this is gonna be.


End file.
